Endless Summer
by ADivergentRebel
Summary: When Beatrice Prior gets out of school for summer, she and her friend Christina rent a room at a local hotel by the beach. Christina finally convinces Tris to have some fun and join a surf class. But what will happen when her surf instructor is the handsome blue eyed boy she met at the poolside? What will become of Tris and her summer?
1. Chapter 1

School is out for summer. Thank god.

"Come on Tris!" My best friend Christina says, pointing at her computer screen. "You need to do something fun this summer! You never want to do anything. You don't like shopping, pedicures, spa days…" She stops, and her face scrunches up, trying to think of more things she's tried to drag me to, I assume.

I stare at the screen for a moment. _Dauntless Surf Academy_ is written in bold across the top. It would be fun to learn how to surf, I suppose. After all, if I'm going to live in Florida, I might as well learn to do something beach related.

"Fine," I mutter. "One class. I'll try one class."

Christina wraps her arms around my neck. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she exclaims. "We are going to have so much fun! And who knows, perhaps there will be some cute surfer boys." She wiggles her eyebrows.

I sigh. There it is. "That's the only reason you wanted to do this, isn't it?"

A big toothy grin stretches across her dark lips. "Maybe."

"Christina!"

She clicks the _sign up_ button before I have any more time to protest.

"It will be fun!"

I groan.

—

"Two piña coladas please." Christina winks at the cabana boy.

"Make mine virgin." I tell him, glaring at Christina. She could easily pass as 21, even though we are only 16, but myself, yeah, not so much.

"You got it." He smiles politely and walks toward the outdoor bar to prepare our drinks.

"You're no fun!" Christina elbows me in the side playfully. "Maybe if you had just taken the drink, you could lighten up a little."

"There is absolutely no way I could pass for twenty one, Christina."

"With _that_ bikini you could!" She giggles and points to my chest.

The printed top is probably three times bigger than my actual size, even though it was the smallest one they had. Christina insisted we buy it anyway, since it made my chest look bigger. I swear, it is going to fall off any second now.

I grin and shake my head. Christina puts in her "bling" earbuds, and turns on whatever her latest pop favorite is. She and I have very different tastes. She enjoys pop music with whoever the latest hit is, while I just listen to Imagine Dragons over and over again.

I pull out my novel, Paper Towns, from my blue and white striped beach bag, along with some more sunscreen. It doesn't take much for my pale skin to fry, and I don't even tan if I do.

While I am reading, I notice some hungry stares come my way. A few teenage boys' eyes scan my body, and I feel sick. I haven't gotten this kind of attention before. I hope they aren't stupid enough to try something, but if they are, at least I know with my hand to hand combat background, I could any of them down.

In a little while, the cabana boy brings our piña coladas back, and Christina and I gladly grab them from him.

She holds her cup up. "To summer!"

I smile and raise my cup up to hers. "To summer!"

We both take a sip.

"Mmm," I smile. I had forgotten how much I loved the frozen pineapple coconut drink.

"Try a sip of mine, Tris." She takes another sip. "It's sooo good."

"No I'm fine, really." I insist. I go crazy when I eat bread, I _don't want to know_ what would happen if I drank alcohol.

She shrugs. "Whatever you say." She leans back on her hot pink towel she used to cover the pool chair, sipping at her beverage.

A kid at the poolside runs and leaps into the air, curling up into a ball just before hitting the water's surface. Almost in slow motion, the water from his splash gets all over Christina. I burst into hysterical laughter.

"TRIS!" Christina sits up, and raises the heart shaped sunglasses off her face. "IT ISN'T FUNNY!"

"You're right," I say in-between bursts of laughter. "It's hilarious."

She glares at me, and then the kid who made the splash. He could care less.

"Now when I go up to the Hotel room I'm going to be all wet." She mutters.

Even though Christina and I live here in Florida, we decided to get a hotel room for the two of us this summer, and have a little stay-cation. And enjoy the hotel's many amenities, of course. Such as direct beach access, a pool, and outdoor tropical cabana thing. We needed a little bit of an escape from the beach's neighboring town.

"Isn't that why you wore your swimsuit?" I question.

"That, Honey, was so I didn't have to order the virgin piña colada."

I roll my eyes.

Christina pulls up her phone and positions it to take a selfie of us. We smile, and she snaps the photo. I'm not a big fan of taking selfies, but I've spent enough time around Christina to become used to it. She uploads the picture to Instagram, with the hashtag " _poolsidebabes_ ".

"Babes?" I raise my eyebrows.

She laughs. "You're a total babe, Tris."

I shake my head. "I don't see it." Between my pale skin, chin length blonde hair, and small frame, I'm not a "babe". Especially where beach babes are concerned. You know, the chicks with the long wavy blonde hair, and the tanned skin. But whatever.

The sun starts to set behind the ocean, and a beautiful array of pinks, oranges, and pale yellows coat the sky. It's beautiful.

All the little kids start to leave the pool, and the teenagers enter. The pool's lights come on, and water comes out of holes in the concrete that surrounds the pool in brightly colored spurts. A few people let out some whoops, and someone fires up some dance music.

When the sun goes completely down, and the only lights are the ones coming from the pool and hotel, Christina grabs my arm, and pulls me with her as she jumps into the pool.

I let out a yell and she laughs. We sink to the bottom of the pool from her momentum, and I swim up to the top quickly. I had no idea she would do something like that, and didn't have the proper amount of breath.

I come up to the surface with a gasp, and when I open my eyes, I notice dark blue ones starting back at me. My breath hitches. The boy attached to those eyes is _very attractive._

"You alright?" He asks, his thick, dark eyebrows scrunching together with concern.

"Yeah- yeah!" My thoughts scatter. "I'm fine."

He smiles. "Good."

I doggy paddle over to the section of the pool where my feet can touch the ground. The boy follows me, discretely.

"Hey Four!" Someone shouts from across the pool.

The boy turns his head in that direction. "Yeah?"

"Another drink?"

"Nah, I'm good, Zeke." He smiles and his gaze comes back to me.

He looks at me, but not in the same way the boys were looking at me earlier. He looks at me as if I my face is beautiful. As if I am beautiful. And not a just an object he could screw later.

A familiar song by Walk The Moon starts to play.

"Would you…" The boy, Four, starts. "like to dance?"

I don't normally dance, but something about this boy is hard to say no to.

I smile and nod. He holds out both hands and I grab them. We jump up and down to the beat with the flashing neon lights. Maybe this summer will be different. Maybe this summer I will be brave.

 _Oh don't you dare look back._

 _Just keep your eyes on me."_

 _I said, "You're holding back,"_

 _She said, "Shut up and dance with me!"_

 _This woman is my destiny_

 _She said, "Oh, oh, oh,_

 _Shut up and dance with me."_


	2. Chapter 2

When the music dies down, and I finish dancing, I swim toward a small ledge in the pool. I have always been self conscious about swimming above the water, for reasons I can't explain, so I swim underwater, blindly.

I would open my eyes, but the pool smells heavily of chlorine, which would burn badly. I come up to the surface when my chest tightens, and my lungs scream for air. As I reach the surface I create a huge splash, and my too big top to falls off.

 _Oh no._

I see it floating in the brightly lit water, halfway across the pool from me. _How did it even get that far?_

Instinctively, I cross my arms across my chest, hiding as much as I can. A thousand thoughts race back and forth in my mind, on how to retrieve my top. _I can't swim and reveal myself._

 _If only Christina didn't force me to by this swimsuit._

My eyes lock with the blue eyed man I just danced with, and shock crosses his face as he sees me covering myself up. His eyes flick toward my floating top in the water, and he wastes no time, diving to retrieve it for me.

His large, calloused, hands grasp my top, and he swims to me in no time. _He is a very experienced swimmer._ His body glides through the water gracefully, making his structured swimming look effortless.

He hands me my top. My mouth drops open slightly, and I try to find the words to thank him, to tell him how much I appreciate it, and how gentlemanly it was of him, since I could easily been taken advantage of, but instead, I grab my top with lighting speed, and slip it back on, not able to mutter a peep.

I feel my face become even redder, and the boy scratches the back of his neck uncomfortably, and turns away, headed back toward his friends in the deep end of the pool.

"Wait," I say.

He turns around.

"Thank you." I make eye contact with him, trying to contain my embarrassment.

"You're welcome." A small smile forms on his lips.

As he turns around once again and continues toward his friends, I stand in the shallow end of the pool, completely stunned. My throat becomes tight, and an unfamiliar feeling forms in the depths of my chest. My heart pounds furiously against my ribcage.

 _Thanks, stranger._

—

"Oh this is so exciting!" Christina remarks, bouncing impatiently in the sand.

I roll my eyes, but can't help the grin that forms on my face.

A black van, with a surf board on top, and the words _Dauntless Surf Academy_ painted haphazardly across the side pulls into the beach parking lot.

A man opens the drivers side, and begins to head in our direction. He doesn't look like your typical surfer guy. I turn to Christina and smirk, earning a glare from her.

He walks toward the two of us, and I am instantly reminded of a snake. The way this man carries himself is snake-like; slithery and venomous. Boy, this will be a long surf camp. Of course, Christina had to get the week long camp, the longest one there is. I think we are both regretting it now.

"Are you Tris and Christina?" The man asks, twirling a long string of black, greasy hair around his finger. Bile rises in my throat.

"Yeah." Christina mutters, all the enthusiasm completely gone from her voice.

A grin, that almost looks menacing forms on his lips. "I'm Eric. The owner of Dauntless Surf Academy."

"Nice to meet you." I say, trying to maintain politeness. His eyes scan me from head to toe. I am wearing nothing but a black bikini.

"You too." He says.

Another car door slams. _Thank god. Perhaps the other instructor will help keep my uncomfortableness at bay._

A man walks around the front of the car, carrying a water proof bag, and starts toward us.

He is tall, toned, and his hair is short, and so dark brown that it is almost black. He stares at the white sand beneath his feet, as he walks to us, and his boss, I assume, Eric.

When he reaches us, he drops the bag at his feet, looks up, and his eyes lock on mine. They are dark blue. He is the stranger from the pool last night. My breath hitches in my throat.

When he looks at me, his eyes widen slightly, and his lips open slightly. He quickly regains himself, hiding his emotions behind a wall of intimidation. A wall, that by the way he acted like last night, I know can be knocked down.

"I'm Four." He says.

Eric nods his head toward the water. "Alright. Let's hit the waves," he raises his eyebrows. "shall we?"

Christina's gaze drifts back and forth from me and Four, in a flurry of confusion.

This should be interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

Eric clears his throat, and begins toward the ocean. Christina follows him, still looking at me with raised eyebrows, I follow her, and Four follows me.

 _I thought I would never see him again. How embarrassing._

When we arrive at the water's edge, Eric digs the end of his surfboard into the sand, and leans the tip under his armpit, using it as an arm rest. "I'll teach you." He says, pointing at me. My heart almost stops, and panic flows through me. _Not him. "_ Your name again?" Eric raises his eyebrows.

"Tris." My voice shakes.

"No. I'll teach her."

I turn toward the direction from which the voice came. Four stands, leaning against his surfboard as well. His eyebrows tug together in the middle, forming a crease in the middle of his forehead.

Eric lets out a short laugh. "You seem to be forgetting who's in charge."

Four looks up from the sand, his eyebrows still furrowed. "You seem to be forgetting who's the most qualified. She's obviously the weaker of the two, she will need an experienced instructor so she doesn't fall flat on her face."

What was relief, quickly turns to rage inside me. "Weaker of the two?" I repeat, my voice coming out louder than expected.

"Yeah," Four scratches his eyebrow. "You seem… I don't know," he shrugs. "stiff."

My hands curl into fists. _I have to prove him wrong. I will prove him wrong._

 _E_ ric laughs a little. "You're right, she's hardly Dauntless."

"Dauntless?" Christina questions.

Eric turns to face her. "Yeah. It's what we call our professional surfers. You have to be pretty fearless to face these waves." Eric gestures to the sea with his head.

Christina nods.

Eric starts into the water, followed closely by Christina.

Four picks up his surfboard. "Let's go further down the beach so we don't disturb them."

I nod, still glaring at him. I can't believe I agreed to do this in the first place. As we walk down the beach we exchange awkward glances. The air between us is thick.

"What the hell?" I finally say. "I may be small, but I most certainly am not weak, or," I pause, trying to remember the word he used. "stiff." I finish. I stop on the beach and cross my arms across my chest.

When Four notices I stopped, he stops too, almost confused, and his eyes flick quickly to Eric and Christina, and upon noticing they are pre-occupied, return to mine. "Prove me wrong then." His deep voice rumbles, making the inside of my chest feel warm, and sending an unreadable emotion coursing throughout my veins.

There is definitely something between us, but what, exactly, it is, I have no idea.

I follow him into the sea. The water is cold at first touch, and I shudder when a huge wave comes crashing over me. Four looks back at me, a small grin playing on his lips.

"It's not that cold." He says.

Heat rises to my cheeks, as I realize I must of let out a gasp, but I don't say anything.

He chuckles a little, shaking his head, and turns back to face the horizon. He then hops onto his surfboard and lies down on his stomach. "Grab the back of the board!" He shouts. "We need to get out farther!"

My hands wrap grasp the tail end of the board, and Four lifts his toned arms and begins to paddle. The big, defined muscles in his arms expand and contract as he glides through the water with ease.

Once we get out far enough, he hops off the board and stands, holding the board in place, so it won't drift away. His feet touch the ground comfortably, while I have to paddle furiously to even keep my head above water. Four looks to me, then to the horizon.

"Alright," he says. "I'm going to catch this wave. Watch closely."

He hops up back onto his board again, lying on his stomach, and paddles as the wave approaches him. When the wave starts to curl over, he pushes himself up, and stands upright, and plants his feet on the board's surface firmly. The wave pushes the end of his board, and he rides toward the shore. A look of pure bliss crosses Four's face, as he rides the wave, and the wind pushes against him, his dark locks flying across his forehead.

He is steady the entire time. He never sways.

When the wave reaches the shore, he swims back out to me, and laughs at the look of amazement on my face. He pushes the board across the water to me. "Now let me see you do that."

My jaw drops.

He chuckles, taking the board back from me.

He shows me how to stand, where to put my feet and arms, how to stand up, when to start paddling, and when to stand up.

"Think you can give it a go?" He asks after showing me the basics, raising his eyebrows.

I nod.

He looks out into the sea. "There's a good wave." He points at a wave that is just beginning to form. "Try to get that one."

As it comes closer, I lie on my stomach on the board, and as the wave curls, start to paddle. I follow all of Four's instructions, but somehow manage to not catch the wave.

As another wave approaches, Four tells me the same thing. I catch the wave, but fall off the board the moment I try to stand. Four wastes no time, darting to grab the board, then asking if I'm alright.

"Just a face full of sand." I say. "But yeah, other than that, I'm fine."

"It happens." He shrugs. "Just comes from the territory."

After about an hour of trying, and failing, to ride waves I start to become frustrated with myself. _Why can't I do this?_

"It takes practice." Four assures me. _But he had made it look so easy._ "You're tense," He says. "just relax and become one with the wave." His eyes, the same color as the depths of the sea, pour into mine. "Oh and," He swims over to me, and places a firm hand on my bare abdomen. Though the palm of his hand touches one side of my rib cage, his slender fingers almost reach the other side. My breath hitches. "keep tension here."

He takes his hand away. I have to stop for a moment to regain myself. My heart pounds against my chest, faster, faster.

Another wave quickly approaches me. I hop onto the board, and paddle, _paddle._

"Be strong, Tris." Four says. "The first one is always the toughest."

 _He must think I'm going to get this one._

The wave curls, and I stand up. My board lunges forward with the wave, and adrenaline runs through my system. _I'm doing it_. I spread my arms out to the side, like the wings of a bird. The wind curls around my fingertips, and the wave roars around my ankles. My body buzzes with excitement, a sense of accomplishment, and the feeling of freedom. I am like a bird. I am free, one with the sea, and its waves. My spirit soars. I am pure adrenaline.

I ride the wave to the shore, remaining steady the entire time. I don't flutter or fall. Four swims to meet me, looking slightly impressed. His eyes are full emotion, and words he isn't brave enough to say.

After looking at each other for a little longer than what is socially acceptable, Eric and Christina meet up with us.

Eric looks back and forth between me and Four, letting out a little bit of a scoff. "How did it go?" He asks Four, a hint of something almost sarcastic in his tone.

Four nods. "Well."

Eric looks back to me and Christina. "Well," He clasps his hands together. "we will see you two tomorrow."

Four and I exchange one more glance before he starts to trail behind Eric.

When they get far enough away, I turn to Christina. "Was it terrible?"

"No!" She says, almost defensively. "He's a lot nicer than you might think."

I raise my eyebrows. "Right. And pigs fly."

She rolls her eyes, and shoves me, sending me tumbling down into the sand.

We laugh.

We spend the rest of the day on the beach. No matter what we do, my mind races back to my surf instructor, Four.

 _Why can't I get him out of my head?_


End file.
